The Returns
by TooDarnLazy
Summary: First Sasuke returned. Then it was Akatsuki. And because of them, another returned. However, does Naruto return...?
1. Prologue

A.N.: This is my first ever Naruto fanfic, so yeah, i'm kinda nervous about how it will be received. :-) The title kinda sucks, i know. i welcome suggestions.

Disclaimer: sigh. I don't own Naruto. sigh.

* * *

**The Returns** by Li 

Prologue

Two men were facing each other in a dark clearing in the middle of a forest. The trees and ground around them stood testament to the immense battle that had taken place just seconds before. Both the men had three tomoe in their blood-red eyes. They shared similar facial features, although one looked older than the other. However, the major difference was that the younger man's skin was unnaturally dark, his hair was long, spiky and grey, and he had a black, shuriken-shaped mark across his nose. But what was most startling was that he had a pair of webbed, hand-like wings projecting from his back.

The winged man glared at the older man, despite his heavy panting. The older man was also having trouble breathing, and took a few steps backwards until he was leaning heavily against a tree.

The younger man's hands flashed through a few handseals and crackling black electricity appeared at his left hand. He looked at the man in front of him, hatred pouring out of his eyes. The man looked indifferent. Resigned, but indifferent. He knew this day would come; it was just a matter of time. Riled, the younger man gave a loud shout and charged at him as the sound of a thousand birds filled the air.

As if in suspended animation, the fist with the black electricity punched though the left side of the older man's chest, who didn't attempt to move from the beginning of the attack. He slumped forward into the arms of his attacker.

The young man looked down at the older man in his arms as the colour of his skin went from dark to pale, his hair became shorter and pitch-black, and the wings receded into his back. The older man, like himself, was soaked in blood, deep gashes and wounds everywhere. His black cloak with red and white cloud design, his black hair, and even his ponytail, was streaked in blood.

"Finally, otouto," the ponytailed-man whispered roughly, "enough hate." He looked up into the swirling red eyes of a younger version of himself. The younger man's brow was furrowed and his face was gashed and blood-streaked. He stared down at the ponytailed man, watching the whirling of his red eyes become slower and slower, until finally the eyes in front of him turned black.

"Aniki…" the younger man whispered. The ponytailed man stared at him for a moment, and then gave a small sigh. The younger man buried his face in the blood chest of his older brother, the ponytailed man, sobs wracking his body as the black eyes now became the glazed, fish-like eyes of a dead man. His sobs became louder and louder until he started screaming loudly, tears openly running down his face.

"Aniki!" he screamed.

* * *

An hour later the young man stood shakily, ignoring the pain tearing at his body. He carried his dead brother and stumbled forward into the darkness. He made his way slowly into the forest, determined to reach his destination: his childhood home.

* * *

So, that's the prologue of my first ever fanfic! hope you enjoyed it, brief as it was. pls pls pls read chapter 1 too, yeah? the story has only begun.

i welcome reviews, critiques and criticisms (if u must :-) ). flame all you want, coz Kakashi promised to use a suiton jutsu to put out any flames, the Yondaime promised to comfort me, Iruka and Naruto promised to treat me to Ichiraku ramen, Sasuke promised to give a katon jutsu back to those who flamed, and Sakura promised to pound any burnt corpses into ash. XD hehehe


	2. Chapter 1

A.N.: 1st chapter of my fisrt ever fanfic! (yes i'm going to keep mentioning that it's my first ever fanfic XD)

Disclaimer: sigh. I don't own Naruto. sigh.

* * *

**The Returns** by Li 

Chapter 1

It was past midnight. The blonde young man snored at his desk, little trails of saliva snaking their way onto the papers in front of him. Everything was quite in the room, although noise of people partying and laughing drunkenly could be heard when the wind blew through the large windows that stood open.

Suddenly, the blonde man sat up straight, as if someone had poked a kunai into his back. He had a worried look on his face. Something had woken him up. He looked around his room, and saw only his brown-haired assistant beside him, snoring contentedly into his long scarf. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, and dismissed his sudden waking as a mere freak occurrence. It happened often, after the incident at the Valley of the End. He prepared to go back to his nap, and lowered his head onto his arms again.

Just as he was about to close his eyes, that subconscious tugging came back, more forceful this time, and the blonde man's eyes flew open as cold fear gripped his heart. He couldn't mistake it this time; he knew what it was. Quickly he examined the area for chakra, and found only the usual signatures of the men outside his door. He was sure he couldn't detect any other chakra signatures. Everything was normal here, but he knew what it was that gripped his heart.

Quickly forming some hand seals he popped outside the window and crouched down, waiting. As he predicted, the door flew open and a man wearing a black cape and the mask of a fox peeked in.

"Everything alright…?" he asked, trailing off as he noticed the blonde man asleep at the desk next to brunette. The masked man scanned the room quickly, and, finding nothing unusual, was closing the door carefully when his alert eyes noticed a small flash of white and yellow outside the window.

* * *

The blonde man almost flew across the village, hopping on rooftop after rooftop as he raced toward his destination. He knew he didn't have much time, already he could feel very faint chakra in pursuit of him. With a burst of speed, he plunged forward, his white cape edged with red flames flapping behind him. The pursuing chakra faded as he dashed forward. The blonde man smiled grimly. He wasn't known as the Second Yellow Flash of Konoha for nothing.

He hopped off a final rooftop, reaching a deserted compound. He stopped at the entrance, his eyes tracing the outline of the paper fan insignia over his head, on the arch of the entrance to the compound. He stared into the darkness in front of him, but could not detect any movement. The compound was eerily still. Doubt began to rise, but was quickly quelled as he detected a faint but clear chakra signal from the heart of the compound. His heart gave a leap. The chakra signature was familiar, even though he hadn't come into contact with it in years. Yes. The signature was heart-breakingly familiar.

He rushed into the compound, toward a large, stately house. The house was old-fashioned, and it was obvious that this house was once well-kept, the pride of a family. Sliding open the door he followed the chakra signature to the main hall of the house and stopped short. In front of him on the wall were two pictures: a man and a woman, both black-haired. The woman had a sweet and gentle face; the man's face showed strength and pride. And below the pictures, a blood-soaked black-haired young man was standing shakily, gazing up at the pictures. In his hands was a still, man-shaped form. If he heard or felt the blonde man behind it, he didn't acknowledge. The blonde man froze where he was, at the entrance to the hall; his hand on the doorframe.

"Otousan, okaachan…" the black-haired man whispered. "I'm home. I've brought aniki home." He laid down the burden in his arms gently, arranging the hands and legs of the dead man carefully. He then knelt in front of the dead man, and looked up at the pictures again, drawing out a long katana from its sheath behind him. Holding the katana steady, he whispered again.

"I'm coming to join you, otousan, okaachan, aniki…" He closed his eyes and made a quick plunge with the katana, aiming at his abdominal area. However, he suddenly realized the hand holding his katana was immobilized, and his eyes flew open with a snap. He saw a hand gripping his, and looked up into the bright blue eyes of the blonde man. He idly noted the spiky yellow hair and the three whisker-like marks on each of the blonde man's cheeks. Closing his eyes again, he smiled drowsily as darkness began to engulf his consciousness. He uttered a single word.

"Usuratonkachi."

* * *

Voices were shouting, feet were running. The black-haired man open his eyes slowly but could only see blur images rushing around him. His semi-conscious senses felt hands on him, and chakra on his skin. He heard a feminine voice squeal "Sasuke-kun!" and saw a flash of pink. He forced himself to look up and saw that the blonde man was still holding him. He tried to focus but couldn't, and closed his eyes gain, losing consciousness but feeling surprisingly free of anxiety or fear.

"Hokage-sama! Are you alright?" "Hokage-sama, you have blood on you!" "No, it's not mine. Don't just stand there! Treat his wounds!" "Hai!" "Move out of the way!" "Hai, Sakura-sama!" "Sasuke-kun! Don't die!"

The black-haired man mentally grunted as he heard the noise. 'Can't a man have a peaceful sleep?' he thought as he completely lost consciousness. 'Annoying…'

* * *

The sun forced its way behind the closed lids of his eyes, forcing him out of his sleep. Sighing, he opened his eyes only to close them against the harsh morning sun. He pushed himself into a seated position and opened his eyes again. He blinked drowsily a few times and observed the room he was in, taking in the bed he was on, the large windows with thick curtains pushed to the sides, the long mirror on the wall opposite him, the tables and chairs around the room, the orange swirl pattern on the rice-paper door no doubt leading to the wardrobe.

Rubbing his eyes, he pushed his feet over the side of the bed and stood up carefully. Then he noticed he was bandaged all over. He stretched carefully and walked towards the window. It was several stories high, and he could see the village rooftops below him. He turned around, blinking as something flashed.

He blinked again. The flash came from the small table next to the mirror. On it was a photograph of three children and a masked man. The two boys, one black-haired and one blonde, were scowling away from each other as the girl in the middle grinned happily into the camera. The masked man's single visible eye was curved into an upside own U, indicating he was smiling. Something else glinted, and the black-haired man picked it up. He felt funny inside as he examined it closely. It was a forehead protector with the design of a leaf on it, representing Konohagakure. His thumb traced the gash across the mark as he fingered the dark blue cloth to which the forehead protector plate was attached. He definitely recognized it: it was his own. Trembling slightly from the flood of memories and emotions welling inside him, he put it down and turned away.

He heard the sound of someone snoring, and nearly tripped over the numerous instant ramen cups and scattered chopsticks, papers, scrolls and writing brushes littering the floor as he made his way towards the sound. Spiky yellow hair could be seen from the top of a large chair. He walked around to face the chair, which was facing the bed. Quietly he studied the form in front of him.

The blonde had the look of an agile man, whose muscles were used to being worked constantly. The yellow hair, spiky as ever, was longer and had been combed more properly than when he last saw it. The whisker marks were still prominent. The face was achingly familiar, although it had a more mature look now; the look of a confident young man. However, the picture of a mature, confident man was slightly marred as the blonde was curled up in the chair, with his knees to his chest, looking rather like a young kid stealing a nap. The black-haired man smirked and reached out to touch him lightly on the knee. However, he wasn't prepared for what happened next.

All of a sudden, he found himself on the floor, pain running through his body as he was rudely reminded of his wounds. A kunai had materialized in the blonde man's hand, which he had placed across his throat, while his hands and legs pinned down the black-haired man under him. The black-haired man felt the kunai graze his throat and felt liquid warmth over his abdominal area. He looked up at the blonde man.

The blonde man blinked as the door was thrown open. His eyes suddenly registered the face beneath him and he opened his mouth to say "Teme!" However, the sound was cut off as the blonde suddenly found himself flying through the air and landed splat on the wall behind him.

"Sasuke!" A pink-haired young woman had knelt down at the side of the black-haired man and was tenderly picking him up. Sasuke looked up into the girl's face and immediately knew who she was. Haruno Sakura. He averted his eyes, choosing instead to look over her shoulder at the blonde who was gathered in a heap at the wall against which he was hurled. Two fox-masked, black-caped men were helping him up. Another four masked men, whom he recognized as ANBU, were standing near the door.

Sasuke felt himself being lifted and lowered gently onto the bed. With surprise he realized that Sakura had lifted him on her own without breaking a sweat. Sakura gently took off the bandages on his abdomen and placed her hand over the area. Sasuke felt the pain disappear as a light green glow appeared around Sakura's hand. 'Healing jutsu', thought Sasuke. She must have learned it from Tsunade.

"Sakura-chan, that hurt," whined the blonde man as he limped over to the bed and resettled himself in the chair he had occupied earlier. Sakura snorted as she concentrated on what she was doing. "It's your own fault, Naruto. I leave the room for ten minutes and already I find you at his throat."

"Well, that teme should have known better than to wake me up," grumbled Naruto, but his face had a slight smile and a worried look. "How's he doing?"

"The wounds are healing just fine," Sakura answered. The green light had disappeared from her hand and she was putting new bandages on Sasuke's abdomen. "You reopened a wound but it's closed now. No danger."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. One of the four ANBU came forward and tapped Naruto respectfully on the shoulder. Naruto gave a small nod without looking at the ANBU, cleared his throat and said, "Please excuse me for a few minutes, Sasuke, Sakura." He got up and followed the ANBU out of the room.

Sasuke's eyes followed Naruto to the door. As the door closed, he tried to sit up. Sakura, realizing his effort, moved quickly to help him, but Sasuke rudely slapped her hands away. He heard Sakura gasp softly and looked up to see her face take on a hurt expression. Sasuke felt a pang in his heart; his movement had been a reflex; he had not meant to hurt her feelings.

Sakura quickly moved her hands away and stood up. She walked towards the chair Naruto had occupied and sat in it, all the while not looking at Sasuke. Sasuke's face betrayed no emotion, and he tried to stifle the unwanted emotions inside. He had gone years without emotions: they were unnecessary things to a shinobi.

"Naruto looked after you the whole time you were out, since the time you were found," Sakura said in a mild voice. "After I healed you, he looked after you the whole two weeks you were out. He hardly ever left the room, unless he had to use the bathroom. We were so afraid you weren't going to make it." Sasuke felt the pang return, and was finding it difficult to suppress. "Didn't ask for his help, or yours," he replied curtly, staring at an imaginary crack in the wall opposite. Sakura looked down at her hands in her lap.

The door opened and Naruto returned with the ANBU. "Uchiha Sasuke, you are hereby placed under arrest as a traitor to Konohagakure. You will be detained in the Konoha Prison until your punishment has been set by the Security Council and Hokage-sama," the ANBU stated tersely. Sasuke looked up at Naruto, who looked away.

Sasuke sneered and pushed himself off the bed. The three other ANBU restrained him with chakra ropes around his wrist and legs, giving him just enough room to shuffle. Naruto looked at Sasuke and said, "I'm sure you understand, Sasuke. You've been a missing nin for almost 10 years, and you have been with Orochimaru. The Security Council needs information and depending on what you say, the punishment will be decided. So I advise you to cooperate fully during the interrogation."

Sasuke sneered. Naruto looked pained but didn't say anything. Sasuke's heart gave another pang at Naruto's expression, but he remained dumb. The ANBU and their prisoner were about to teleport off when a resounding _THWAP_ was heard. Sasuke gave a twisted smile and spat out some blood.

"After all Naruto has done for you, you ungrateful bas—"

"It's ok, Sakura-chan." Naruto's quiet voice cut off Sakura. Sakura stared at Naruto as she lowered the hand she had slapped Sasuke with. "It's ok," Naruto repeated, a smile on his face. He nodded to the ANBU, and they teleported away.

Naruto put his arm around Sakura's shoulders as she covered her face with her hands and began to cry.

Sakura found her voice again after a few moments. "Who's in charge of the interrogation?" Naruto sighed. "Morino Ibiki," he answered shortly. Sakura gasped. She wanted to say more, but knew it wasn't her place. Naruto spoke again. "Neji will be assisting. Ero-sennin, Tsunade no baachan and I will be watching in the concealed room. I've already spoken to Ibiki-san about the interrogation." Sakura nodded. Naruto knew she was worried, and he shared her anxiety. He gave her shoulder a squeeze, and Sakura put her hand onto his hand and gratefully squeezed back.

* * *

What do you think? whatdoyouthink?? pls pls pls review:-D. critiques and criticisms (if u must) are welcome. flame all you want, coz Kakashi promised to put them out with a suiton jutsu, the Yondaime promised to comfort me, Iruka and Naruto promised to treat me to Ichiraku ramen, Sasuke promised to return the flames with an appropriate katon jutsu, and Sakura said she'd pound any burnt corpses into ash. XD hehehe


	3. Chapter 2

A.N.: The second chapter of my first ever fanfic:-D Oh yeah, I forgot to mention earlier (silly me) that this story deviates from the manga after chapter 345.

Disclaimer: sigh. I don't own Naruto. Sigh.

* * *

**The Returns** by Li 

Chapter 2

Sasuke walked quietly in the middle of his escorts. The prison was a depressing place, although it was clean and well-maintained. He could feel the killing intent and maliciousness of the prisoners radiate from the cells as he walked along the corridor towards the interrogation room.

In the interrogation room, a large man wearing his forehead protector as a bandanna over his head and a long black trench coat, and a tall, lithe man with long dark hair neatly gathered in a loose ponytail were waiting. The ponytailed man was wearing a white cloak in addition to the standard ANBU uniform, and his bird mask had a small red swirl around the right eyehole in addition to the usual designs. Morino Ibiki let his thoughts dwell on a conversation he had with Naruto a few days back.

"I understand the need for the interrogation and will not do anything to stop you. However, I want to make one thing clear. I am in no way warning nor am I threatening you, but I would like to request of you to …… not be too excessive on the Uchiha," Naruto had said. His voice held no threatening tone, only respect for the older man. However, Ibiki caught his meaning. He understood the ties between Naruto and Sasuke. Ibiki had nodded and said, "I will do my best." "I know. You always do."

The sensation of several chakra signatures approaching the room snapped Ibiki out of his recollections. He glanced at the Hyuuga, whose steady posture betrayed no feelings. He silently approved of Hyuuga Neji, ANBU Vice Commander. Neji had showed significant improvement since the Hyuuga main house-branch house complication had been cleared up by the Hokage slightly over half a year ago. Hyuuga Hinata had willingly (and some say happily) relinquished her position as head of the Hyuuga family to Neji, thus combining both houses. Although some of the main house family did not fully approve, Hyuuga Hiashi had approved completely, having taken Neji under his wing since the Chuunin exams.

The door opened to show a pale Sasuke, who was strapped down to the single chair in the room. Sasuke noted that the chair had a large seal taped on it: a chakra restraint. In confirmation, as soon as he sat down, he felt his chakra drain until a very small amount remained. The only light in the room was turned full in his face. He recognized the chakra signatures of the two men in the room, one he vaguely remembered as Morino Ibiki's, having come into contact with the man during the chuunin exams. He recognized the other as Hyuuga Neji, and remembered their first meeting just before the exams.

Neji noted how thin and worn Sasuke looked. There was still that arrogance in his features that Neji could remember from the chuunin exams. However, a great sadness seemed to be evident on his face, as well as a little fear. Neji was surprised, though he did not show it. 'Fear?' he wondered. 'In an Uchiha?'

Suddenly, Ibiki's voice boomed out.

"Did you kill Uchiha Itachi?"

Sasuke's emotions welled up at that name, and his voice was shaky as he answered, "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I had sworn to. He killed my family; he destroyed the clan."

"How did you kill him?"

"Chidori to the heart."

"Why did you come back?"

Sasuke looked up to the ceiling with unseeing eyes. "To kill myself and join my family."

"Orochimaru!" Ibiki said loudly, as if he was calling the person. Sasuke just stared passively.

"How long were you with Orochimaru?"

"About two and a half years."

"Where is he now?"

Sasuke laughed dryly. He continued to laugh, as if the question was the most idiotic thing he had heard. "Where is he, you ask?" Sasuke gave a last chuckle. "I don't know. Probably rotting in hell."

"What do you mean?"

"I killed him, so he's probably rotting in hell, or wherever it is he went after I sliced him to bits."

Sasuke felt both Ibiki and Neji stiffen. "You killed Orochimaru?" the question came from Neji, who so far had not uttered a sound. His incredulity was obvious.

"Yes."

Ibiki continued. "Are you Orochimaru?"

"You mean, did Orochimaru transfer his soul into me? The answer is no. I sliced that dirty snake into bits before he had a chance."

"Where is Kabuto?"

"That rat? I don't know. Probably holed up somewhere."

"Why didn't you kill him?"

"At first he was my assistant, just like he was Orochimaru's assistant. But I left him behind to look for Itachi. I don't know where he's slinked off to."

A few moments of silence. Sasuke suddenly felt drowsy and extraordinarily weak. He closed his eyes as he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness.

Naruto rushed into the room and took a hold of unconscious Sasuke. "What's wrong with him?" Neji took off his ANBU mask. "It's ok; he just had too much chakra drained out from him. He was rather low to begin with. Probably because he had been recuperating." Ibiki said quietly, "I haven't started the heavy stuff yet. I'll probably go slow but it'll start tomorrow."

Naruto nodded sadly, looking at his unconscious friend. He nodded to no one in particular, but suddenly the four ANBU who had escorted Sasuke earlier materialized and gently took Sasuke away. They took him to a cell and laid him on one of the beds there, exited the cell and secured the seal guarding the door.

* * *

Every day for the past five days, without fail Sasuke had been taken out of his cell for interrogation. The interrogations had become successively more and more torturous. Not so much physically but mentally. However, as soon as he was taken back to his cell, without fail Naruto and Sakura would appear. It seemed that they had obtained permission to enter his cell.

Sakura always checked on his recovering wounds and treated any wounds Sasuke might have received. Naruto generally didn't say much, which was quite a feat, knowing his usual loudmouth tendencies. He usually sat on the bed at Sasuke's feet, watching as Sakura gently ministered to Sasuke. As soon as she was done he would grasp Sasuke's shoulder, and Sakura would give Sasuke a light pat on the other shoulder, and the two would leave. Most of the time, not even a word would be exchanged between the old team mates.

On this fifth day, after Naruto and Sakura had left, Sasuke lay on the bed quietly. He was exhausted from the mental torture. 'Ibiki-san is a real torture master,' he thought grimly. He was drowsing off to sleep when his two cellmates, whom he had ignored all the while, conversed in whispers in one corner of the small cell. He didn't really pay attention until he heard the word 'kyuubi'.

"That kyuubi brat! Who does he think he is anyway! He killed so many of the villagers 22 years back and he thinks he can get away with it?"

Sasuke opened his eyes carefully. He tried to use his Sharingan, but couldn't activate it because of the chakra repressors they had placed on him, which he couldn't remove without chakra and without injuring himself badly. He paid closer attention as the other cellmate answered the first one.

"You're right! What was Tsunade thinking anyway? That drunken old fart. If the kyuubi thinks he can erase his sins just like that, he's plenty wrong!"

The two other men continued to curse the kyuubi no gaki, their language becoming more and more colourful as their hatred and venom became more and more obvious. Sasuke knew they were talking about Naruto, and as much as he tried to hated to admit it, the whispers pissed him off. And not just because they interrupted his rest either. He sat up.

"Are you talking about Uzumaki Naruto?" he asked in a chilly voice. The two other men turned around to stare at him. Now anyone who had anything to do with the Uchiha before knew that tone of voice boded no good to the person it was directed at. However, the two prisoners misunderstood, thinking the chill was directed at the object of their spite.

"Hah! How lucky! New boy here hates the kyuubi too, eh?" one of the men said. He had stringy brown hair that hung around his face, giving him a slightly unhinged appearance. His friend was shaved bald and the bald head nodded up and down happily. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at them.

"Are you talking about Uzumaki Naruto?" Sasuke repeated. His voice would have caused the air around him to turn into icicles. The two men again misunderstood the warning in his voice as encouragement for their cause.

"Yeah, that's the kyuubi brat! The yellow-haired fox who 'visits' you every time you come back from interrogation!" Baldy sang out, emphasis on the word 'visits'. "It's probably his fault you're in for interrogation. By the looks of it, you've got Morino Ibiki taking a crack at your skull."

Sasuke put a hand up to massage his now pounding head. Stringy-hair took up the ball. "It's probably the brat's fault you got locked up in here! Everyone against the kyuubi gets locked up here. You've landed amongst brothers, kid. All of us here hate that kyuubi brat. That damn kyuubi! Took away my wife and kids and home!" Baldy sang out his grievances too. "He destroyed my home too! Killed my mom and sisters. Forced me to become a missing nin."

Sasuke tried to calm himself down, but his fists were bunching up, longing for some target pratice. His cellmates continued to curse Naruto with more spite than he thought possible.

"Shut up." Sasuke said in a deadly tone. The two men glanced up at him in surprise. Stringy-hair leered at him. "None of your business if we want to curse that kyuubi Uzumaki—"

Sasuke's fist swung at Stringy-hair and heard it connect with the side of his head with a satisfyingly loud thud. Baldy's jaw dropped in surprise as his friend pitched over. "You actually standing up for that demon?"

Sasuke was suddenly on his feet, whereas Baldy's feet found themselves doing a little tip-toe dance, and his eyes found themselves looking down at Sasuke's fist holding him up by the collar of his prison shirt. Baldy looked up into Sasuke's eyes.

Bad mistake.

They might not have been the Sharingan, but Sasuke's eyes were practically doing a Katon jutsu. Baldy swallowed fearfully as Sasuke hissed, clearly enunciating every word. "Uzumaki. Naruto. Is. Not. The. Kyuubi."

He dropped Baldy next to his friend and pointed at them. "Naruto is not the kyuubi that destroyed the village. He's sacrificing himself just as Yondaime and the other Hokages sacrificed themselves for Konoha. Naruto is sacrificing himself as the container for the kyuubi, and you should respect him for that."

Stringy-hair was rudely awakened when Baldy was dropped next to him, and had heard Sasuke's long speech. At least, it was a long speech for Sasuke. Stringy-hair leered at Sasuke again. "What, are you his best friend or something? He did you a favour? Who's talking about respect, now? Naruto, indeed!"

'Friend?' wondered Sasuke. Painful word. Painful memories. "Shut up," he growled at the two. Sasuke didn't understand what the man was insinuating but nevertheless gave them his patented death glare. Stringy-hair cowered next to Baldy.

Sasuke snorted and lowered himself carefully onto the surprisingly clean bed. He wondered when they were going to finish interrogating him, because he wasn't sure he had the enough longsuffering to prevent himself from pulverizing the two other men.

* * *

Two days later, after he had been interrogated again, he lay down on his bed feeling slightly apprehensive. He wasn't sure what exactly was happening, but based on all those years of experience as a shinobi he could tell that Stringy-hair and Baldy were up to something. Sasuke lay down, pretending to sleep but in reality keeping a close eye on his cellmates.

They were definitely up to something: they were huddled together in a corner and whispering, and every so often one of them would turn around to observe Sasuke. Sasuke kept his breathing regular and continued watching them; his eyes opened to the barest slit. However, the sound of the call's gate opening distracted him, and he looked up to see Naruto come in alone.

Naruto sat down on the bed by Sasuke's side, noting that his friend did not seem to have any new wounds. Sasuke didn't acknowledge him, but Naruto started to explain Sakura's absence anyway. "Hey teme, Sakura-chan is really busy at the hospital. It seems one of the kids at the academy tried to do a katon jutsu and it got out of hand--"

There was a flash of light and a loud explosion, and Naruto found himself on the floor. Looking up, he saw Sasuke in a painfully familiar position over him, his arms and legs spread out as his body acted as a human shield. It was almost déjà vu. Naruto's lower jaw hung loosely as a certain memory pressed its way to the surface. He finally noticed that Sasuke was biting his lip, and that smoke seemed to come from Sasuke's back. Sasuke snorted at Naruto's expression of horror.

"Why did you…" the words were stuck in Naruto's throat. Sasuke gave a 'hmph' and turned his face away. "I don't know. My body just moved on its own."

Naruto's jaw which had finally began to rise from the floor when it dropped again at the familiar words. He stared at Sasuke, speechless. He lay on the floor staring at Sasuke for a few seconds, until Sasuke suddenly collapsed onto him, forcing his thoughts to return to the present. He snapped out of his reverie and yelled, "Guards!"

A few ANBU rushed into the cell, and, taking the situation in at a glance, rounded up Stringy-hair and Baldy who were staring open-mouthed at what had happened. Naruto gently lifted Sasuke and put him onto his stomach on the bed. His jaw clenched as he saw the rather deep and severe burn marks, no doubt caused by an exploding note. "Get a medic nin in here, now," he said to one of the ANBU, who quickly vanished in a puff of smoke.

While waiting for medic nin, Naruto walked over to where Stringy-hair and Baldy were held against the wall by the remaining ANBU. He glared at them. They cowered.

"What. Did. You. Do."

Baldy gave a slight squeak at the words, feeling the killing intent emanating from the blonde. Stringy-hair felt it too, and, thinking that he had nothing else to lose if he died then and there, went for broke. He actually spat in Naruto's face.

A kunai flashed as the ANBU holding Stringy-hair prepared to thrust it into the prisoner's thigh, growling angrily. However, he looked up in surprise, which was effectively covered by his mask, when he felt a hand holding his back.

Naruto had grasped the kunai-holding hand with his right hand and was slowly wiping spittle away from his eyes with his left. The ANBU nearly spluttered. "But…!"

Naruto shook his head slowly, and the hand holding the kunai sank slowly back to its owner's side. Naruto gave the ANBU a tired but grateful smile. He wiped the last vestige of spittle away from his face and looked at Stringy-hair again. Stringy-hair had seen the kunai just millimetres away from his thigh and had closed his eyes and held his breath in anticipation of the pain. However, finding none, he gathered up the courage to open his eyes. He saw that Naruto had blocked the kunai and was looking at him. A medic nin appeared behind him with a quiet puff of smoke and immediately went to work treating Sasuke's burns.

Stringy-hair leered at Naruto. "Bah! You don't scare me, kyuubi!" he shrieked, adding some choice expletives to accentuate his venom. "Demon! Do us a favour and die, already!" Stringy-hair, finding no reaction from Naruto except a narrowing of eyes, got bolder and continued. "It was so easy to steal and conceal the explosive note from the guard! And today was perfect since you came without Sakura-sama! I would never have hurt Sakura-sama, but you, you demon, are another matter altogether! That stupid new kid just had to get in the way. If he hadn't done that, you'd now be where you deserve to be!"

Stringy-hair continued ranting as Naruto's face fell almost imperceptibly. He would never admit it to anyone, but even after years of hearing such insults, he could never stop the hurt from rising. However, he perked up when he realized Stringy-hair was now cursing Sasuke for jumping in the way.

"That #$&--#$ --- ooff!" Stringy-hair found his head bouncing off the wall he was held against as his ranting was cut off. Naruto lowered his fist and focused his fox-like eyes onto Stringy-hair. "Insult me all you want, but the moment you insult my friends, I won't hesitate to give you all I've got." Stringy-hair tried to put on a brave face and leered at Naruto's retreating back but the leer was half-hearted as his knees knocked together, overwhelmed by the killing intent that had enveloped him just seconds earlier, seemingly threatening to choke and strangle him.

Naruto knelt by Sasuke's bed and saw that the burns had subsided and were actually beginning to heal. "Good work," he said, smiling at the medic nin, who nearly melted from the praise. Naruto stood and turned to his personal fox-masked ANBU escorts, who were waiting respectfully outside the cell.

"Take the Uchiha to my room once the medic nin is finished. The interrogation is over." The two men bowed quickly to acknowledge the command. Naruto then spoke to the ANBU holding Stringy-hair and Baldy captive. "Release them once we leave. Just let them remain in this cell to finish out their sentences, and tell the prison director I want a word with him."

* * *

:-D so that's chapter 2. sorry, AZN. THANG, but Sasuke doesn't get tortured too much coz Naruto's too soft on his friend, coz he doesn't want to drive Sasuke away. Heheh. Didn't really have any torture scene ideas either. 

Pls pls pls pls review! Critiques and criticisms (if u must ) are welcome. Flame all u want, coz Kakashi promised to put them out with a suiton jutsu, the Yondaime promised to comfort me, Iruka and Naruto will take me out to ramen, Sasuke will return the flames with an appropriate katon jutsu, and Sakura said she'd pound any burnt corpses into fine ash. XD hehehe


	4. Chapter 3

A.N.: Okies here's the third chapter! sorry about the slight delay in updating. also, i've made corrections to the spelling of 'chakra' that i missed earlier. turns out my Word software went into 'annoyingly helpful' mode and changed 'chakra' into 'charka' without me noticing.

Disclaimer: maybe it's a good thing i don't own Naruto, ne?

* * *

**The Returns** by Li 

Chapter 3

The Security Council convened in a secret room in the Hokage Tower. The mood was rather tense.

Tsunade started the meeting by saying, "Ibiki-san, Neji, what are your conclusions?" Ibiki nodded. "The Uchiha was coherent. He kept to the same story each time. Based on the interrogations, it would seem that what he said was true." Neji nodded his agreement and added, "The chakra signature and pathways were normal. I recognize them from having seen those years ago. There doesn't seem to any disturbances or foreign chakra."

Nara Shikamaru sighed lazily. "But of course, that doesn't mean anything. If what he said about being alone most of the time is true, then we have no effective way of confirming his story. Furthermore, we don't know what the chakra would be like if Orochimaru had transferred into Sasuke's body. And if he had, Orochimaru would definitely be able to stand against a lot of torture."

Neji folded his arms. "That is true. But the chakra signature was definitely Sasuke's chakra signature alone. Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama did not sense any of Orochimaru's chakra when they were watching the interrogation."

Shikamaru put his hands behind his head. "That doesn't count for much. Remember the second part of the chuunin exams when Orochimaru put the curse seal on Sasuke? Anko came into contact with him in another's body but didn't sense him at all. Although it was most probable that he did not transfer his soul into that body."

Jiraiya shook his head worriedly. "His chakra signature may be disguised by the body he transferred into. However, I believe that Neji-san's Byakugan should be able to detect if Orochimaru had transferred."

"I believe so too." Yamato said. "I also believe that the fact that Sasuke was committing seppuku when Naruto found him and that he actually got injured from shielding Naruto from the exploding note are two points in his favour. If he was Orochimaru, he wouldn't have done anything, and could have just said that he didn't notice what the other prisoners were trying to do." Most of the other people in the room nodded at what he said.

Ibiki looked towards the final person who had not said a word so far, but had been brooding over everything that had been said. The person nodded at him, and Ibiki said, "We will be releasing the Uchiha into the care of someone under the personal recognizance of the Hokage. Some might protest the lack of punishment since he was a missing nin, but it could not be proved that his turned traitor against Konoha. In fact, there has been no proof that the Uchiha killed anyone other than Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi. The deaths of those two are beneficial to Konoha, obviously. The Hokage believes that the interrogation and the burns he received were punishment enough. Also, the Sharingan is a great asset to Konoha."

Taking a breath, he continued, "However, there will be four ANBU following him all the time. While most of us here today would think and hope that it is truly Uchiha Sasuke who has returned, we (1) don't know for certain if he is not Orochimaru in the Uchiha's body, and what he might be plotting, and (2) if it is really the Uchiha, we still need to be on our guard because we don't know what his plans are, if he does indeed have any. By the Hokage's orders, the real reason behind the Uchiha's 'departure' and return will not be spoken of to unauthorized people. The current belief that the Uchiha left the village on an extended mission is not to be contradicted."

Heads nodded around the room. The person who had kept quiet rose quietly, bowed respectfully and used shunshin no jutsu to transport himself out of the windowless, doorless room.

"He's been that quiet since the Uchiha came back. I'm a little worried," Tsunade said, expressing the opinion of everyone in the room. Shikamaru exhaled noisily. "How troublesome…"

* * *

Sasuke found himself back in a familiar bed in a familiar room. Quietly he opened his eyes and noticed he was back in Naruto's room, and Naruto was standing at the window looking out on the village, arms folded, lost in thought. Sasuke, without feeling the least bit sneaky, activated his Sharingan and stared at Naruto, taking in his thoughts. 

He found Naruto remembering an incident that had happened just before their Academy graduation. He could sense the fear and the pain as Naruto recollected how the villagers had treated him as an outcast, cursing and reviling him as the kyuubi. Naruto started remembering how Iruka-sensei had protected him against Mizuki's giant shuriken on the night the kyuubi container found out about his tenant. With a start he realized that Iruka had crouched over Naruto just as Sasuke had done in prison, and understood Naruto's look of horror to find Sasuke using his body as a shield. Naruto's thoughts ran over their first important mission: the Wave Country mission. He sensed Naruto remembering fondly how they had tried to beat each other at tree-climbing. Naruto stiffened as he remembered the fight against Haku in the ice mirror jutsu, and how Sasuke had again used his body as a human shield. Naruto held his breath, remembering Sasuke's words.

"I don't know. My body moved on its own." Sasuke said those words aloud in a monotone as his red irises became black again. Naruto turned around. "I know you were reading my thoughts, teme." Sasuke was impassive. "You should have known, dobe." Naruto walked away from the window and sat, or rather, crouched in the large chair at the foot of the bed. He folded his arms and rested them in his knees.

"You are being released into my care, since they couldn't seem to find anything wrong with your story. The fact that you did not murder anyone other than Orochimaru and Itachi, and that you got burned in my place helped the Hokage decide to withhold any punishment. So you'll be following me around for a while."

Sasuke smirked slightly. "You have to babysit me, dobe?"

* * *

Sasuke had spent most of the day in bed. Naruto had insisted he rest, and he wasn't in the condition to refuse. The medic nin had healed most of the burns, but he was feeling the after-effects of imprisonment and the mental strain of Morino Ibiki's mental torture. He could feel that his chakra was being restrained; the most he could do with it was activate the Sharingan, and probably some Academy-level jutsu. Since he didn't have any physical restraints on him, he suspected his chakra had been sealed. 

So while he had had several fitful naps throughout the day, Naruto had to do quite a bit of paperwork. When he caught Sasuke looking curiously at him once, he had merely frowned at the papers, saying they were mission reports. Sasuke had left it at that, but did wonder why there were so many reports, and why Naruto hadn't left the room. Didn't he have other responsibilities, or missions, even? Knowing Naruto, he wouldn't have willingly taken on a desk job. But Sasuke felt apathetic. He just couldn't be bothered about anything. He had finally killed Itachi. That was all there was to it. Nothing else mattered. And he should have died that night, but the dobe just had to stop him. Why couldn't he be left alone? Frustrated, he closed his eyes.

With a start he opened his eyes and realized that night had fallen, and Naruto was cautiously nudging him awake. Sasuke lethargically pushed away Naruto's hand. He hadn't realized he fell asleep in the middle of his thoughts. He pushed himself up into a sitting position on the bed and watched Naruto arrange his papers quietly. It was almost unnerving to watch; the blonde was actually quiet.

After a warm meal eaten in the room, Naruto opened the large windows and looked out. A gust of cold air rushed in, causing the papers and litter on the floor to flap and flutter. Naruto took a deep, invigorating breath. Without turning around, he jumped onto the window sill and crouched there.

"Let's go up to the roof, Sasuke-teme."

Sasuke looked impassively at Naruto as he exited the window and stood on the wall using chakra. Naruto glanced at Sasuke, and then made his way up to the roof. Sasuke slowly followed Naruto. When he reached the roof, he saw Naruto lying down with his hands behind his head, staring at the starry sky. Sasuke slouched hesitantly for a while, then joined Naruto.

For almost half an hour, they stared silently at the sky. Sasuke detected six other chakra signatures, but decided not to say anything since Naruto didn't mention them. He was sure Naruto would have detected the chakra too. 'Probably ANBU trailing me,' thought Sasuke.

His thoughts began to wander, thinking of his childhood days, especially his mother. He recalled the day he had returned home late from training to find the Uchiha compound mysteriously silent. How he had found his parents dead, and Itachi standing over them like they were some freshly hunted animals.

He surprised himself when he felt a stab at his heart as the images came to mind. Uncomfortably he realized that he had not felt that absolute vindication he had promised himself when he had killed Itachi. Instead, his emotions were going haywire; emotions that he was sure he had killed a long time ago. He was mentally cursing himself for his loss of control over such puny things as emotions when Naruto's voice broke his train of thoughts.

"Why didn't you kill me again that second time?" Naruto asked quietly. His voice held no trace of bitterness.

Sasuke turned away uncomfortably. A few moments of awkward silence passed as Naruto waited patiently for the answer. Sasuke cursed mentally and said in a monotone, "You heard the reason already. You were useful in taking down Akatsuki members. Sasori, Hidan and Kakuzu out of the way made it easier for me to reach Itachi."

The mention of Itachi's name caused Sasuke's heart to shrink, and he cursed himself for letting his emotions get to him. He knew Naruto wouldn't believe what he had just said. He recalled the incident where he nearly plunged his katana into Naruto. He recalled the look on Naruto's face: the look of a person who had lost his motivation; the look of a defeated person. Why didn't he kill his friend, his _best_ friend, at that time? Sasuke struggled internally. He knew the answer, but he didn't like it. Was it really just because of his whim?

"How do you feel now, after finally avenging your family?" Naruto's voice broke into his thoughts again. Sasuke cursed under his breath. Was Naruto doing it on purpose? Surely he could sense Sasuke's inner turmoil. Was he still that dense after all these years?

And at the mention of his family, the bloody images began to force their way into his mind's eye, causing his gut to wrench painfully, and his heart felt like it was being squeezed in the grip of a giant. Cursed emotions! Sasuke's mouth opened, he felt like vomiting. He felt hot tears trickling down his face as he clutched his stomach. He sat up and whipped around to face Naruto. He saw that Naruto had already sat up with his chin resting on his arms, which were folded on drawn-up knees, and was observing him with a worried look.

Sasuke snapped.

"What is your problem? Why are you asking me all these stupid questions? What business is it of yours? I told you years ago, I've severed all those useless bonds!" he shrieked. He jumped to his feet and caught hold of Naruto's collar, pulling him into a kneeling position.

"All your stupid bonds! All these stupid emotions! You want to know how I feel?" Sasuke roared. He pulled Naruto onto his feet. Naruto just stood there passively, his eyes on his friend. Sasuke looked at those large blue eyes and saw compassion, empathy, and anxiety. Anxiety not for himself, but for Sasuke. Sasuke couldn't take it.

"I feel like crap!" Sasuke punched Naruto, who staggered at the force of the blow, but remained silent. "I feel like shit!" Another punch. "I was supposed to feel relief when Itachi died, but I feel like crap! Stupid emotions! I've destroyed them! Why are they back to haunt me!" Sasuke screamed, all the while raining hits on a passive Naruto.

"Otosan, okachan! Aniki! Why did you leave me alone!" screamed Sasuke, tears raining down his face. "Why? Why? Why!" Sasuke's punches grew feebler as sobs began to take over. "Why!" he screamed again. He fisted his hands as he collapsed onto the tiles, screaming wordlessly. He wrapped one hand around his stomach, which felt like it was being ripped to pieces, and fiercely punched the roof tiles with the other hand, causing them to crack. He continued screaming his heart out as the dam holding his emotions broke, and years of pain, grief, loneliness and heartache surged forth. Hurt that had lain dormant under an emotionless façade.

He felt two arms wrap around him and felt he was being drawn up to someone's chest. Naruto's voice whispered gently in his ears, "It's alright, just let it all out." Sasuke screamed and screamed as he felt his heart torn to shreds. Naruto just tightened his grip around his friend, tears running down his own face. "Why?!" Sasuke screamed hoarsely. He jabbed feebly at Naruto. "I didn't care about you all these years! Why didn't you just kill me? Why didn't you just let me die!" He curled up against Naruto's chest as his sobs died off. "Why didn't you let me die…" he whimpered.

Naruto's heart broke as he held his friend; the friend that he had promised to bring back. The promise of a lifetime. The promise that he failed to keep.

His own body now started to shake as he began to sob quietly. "I couldn't just let you die, Sasuke," he whispered. "I just couldn't. You're my friend. You were my best friend. I couldn't just let you die."

Sasuke heard Naruto's whispers, and felt unfamiliar but comfortable warmth spread through his heart. He remained silent, worn out with screaming and sobbing. A small genuine smile played on his lips as he closed his tired eyes.

Naruto was relieved when he felt Sasuke relax in his arms and his breathing even out. He just held on as his friend fell into a peaceful sleep. After a few minutes, the fox-masked ANBU appeared silently in front of him. Without looking up he said, "Thank you for not interrupting." Naruto held onto Sasuke gently as he tried to rise from the roof.

"Oof!" he let out a soft gasp as pain hit his chest area where Sasuke had pummelled. 'He must have broken a rib or two,' mused Naruto, biting back the pain. He tried again to rise, only to stumble back. The ANBU caught him from behind before he fell. Holding on to Sasuke with one hand, he signalled with the other hand, and the four other ANBU appeared.

"Take the Uchiha to my room and put him in my bed."

The four ANBU bowed smartly and took Sasuke's limp form from Naruto. Three of them vanished in a cloud of chakra smoke. The remaining ANBU cleared his throat softly. Naruto looked expectantly at him.

"We are sorry, Naruto-sama, for not interrupting. My oversight has caused you these injuries."

Naruto gave him a small smile and shook his head. "Iie, taichou. You did the right thing. These injuries are nothing that the medic nins cannot fix. They were worth the pain. You did the right thing."

"If you say so, Naruto-sama. Thank you." The ANBU squad taichou vanished.

Naruto let out a small groan. He released the sound barrier jutsu he had set up earlier just before speaking to Sasuke. The barrier he set up allowed sound to enter but not leave. He had anticipated Sasuke's emotional breakdown; he recognized the symptoms well enough, having experienced it himself. He sighed, relieved that Sasuke had snapped. Carrying all that hurt and grief around for years without venting wasn't a good thing for one's psychological health.

"Call a medic nin and meet me in my room," Naruto ordered the fox-masked ANBU. "Hai. I'll get Sakura-sama immediately," one of them replied. Naruto shook his head vehemently. "Oh no you don't. Just get any medic nin. I don't want Sakura-chan. She might add a few broken bones for the fun of it."

The foxes laughed at that. With a nod, the one who had spoken earlier vanished. The other fox vanished together with Naruto.

* * *

:-) I guess some might complain that Sasuke's OOC in this chapter, but that's why it's called _fanfiction_, ne? hahaha. anyways, i would think that Sasuke, although hating his brother, actually has some form of affection hidden away that was brought out when he killed Itachi, and so he's had an emotional breakdown. never fear, though, Sasuke's not about to turn into an emotional sap! 

ok! pls pls pls review :-)

also, thank you so much **Avion Jade**, **AZN.THANG**, **CrazyGirlofManyNames**, **sasunaru panda**, **TheLightsShadow** n **AZN.THANG** again for reviewing!


	5. Chapter 4

A.N.: ...what to say and how to say it?...ok, nevermind, ignore the A.N. for this chapter :-D

Disclaimer: nope, Kishimoto-sensei owns Naruto. not me.

* * *

**The Returns** by Li 

Chapter 4

Sunlight again tried to force its way between Sasuke's eyelids, forcing him to wake up. Again, he found himself in bed in the same room he had been in before and after his interrogation. And again, he found Naruto curled up in a large armchair by the foot of the bed, a thick blanket around his shoulders. Sasuke cringed slightly at the sight of the bandages wrapping Naruto's ribcage, knowing he was responsible for them. There was a partly opened oversized scroll lying on the floor. It was obvious that Naruto had been reading that when he fell asleep.

Sasuke bit his lip as he remembered last night's incident. He turned away from Naruto. As embarrassing as last night's incident was, he couldn't deny that he now felt lighter. Freer. Vestiges of the hurt were still there, but he no longer needed to repress them. He no longer felt the need for an emotionless mask, but wasn't about to discard that mask just yet. He had been wearing it for years – taking it off would leave him feeling exposed and defenceless.

He heard Naruto stir, and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep. As free as he felt, he also felt he couldn't face his friend just yet.

Naruto yawned loudly and stretched a few times. Standing up, he carefully rolled up the scroll he had been studying the night before and placed it on the chair he just vacated. Naruto looked over at the form in the bed. Sasuke's breathing was even, suggesting he was still asleep. Naruto stretched again and sat down beside Sasuke.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about, teme," he said softly. He scratched the back of his neck absentmindedly. "For the record, I'm really glad you're back. I know Sakura is, too. But you need to talk to her."

There was a knock on the door, and a brown haired young man wearing a ridiculously long scarf around his neck popped in. Naruto looked up at him.

"Ohayo, Naruto-niichan!" Konohamaru said cheerfully.

"Ohayo, Konohamaru."

"I've got a lot of paperwork waiting for you at your desk. And Tsunade-sama is waiting to talk to you about some hospital thing. She's pissed off that you're late." Konohamaru said. He stared at the man in Naruto's bed. The man was facing away from the door; all he could see was that the man was pale-skinned and had black hair. A blanket covered most of his form.

Naruto gulped and sighed. "I'd better go before Tsunade-no-baachan decides to add some broken bones to what I've already accumulated. You go ahead, Konohamaru. Finish the paperwork that I don't have to read urgently. I'll be there shortly. I need a shower."

"It's your work, Naruto-niichan!" grumbled Konohamaru. "Sometimes I think you made me your assistant just so you didn't have to do all the paperwork. I'm supposed to be learning cool stuff from you but you haven't taught me anything!" He turned to leave the room.

"Iie, that's not true. You're already learning from being with me. Now you've learned to see underneath the underneath!"

Konohamaru slammed the door as Naruto chuckled, easily catching the two shuriken aimed at his head. He stood up.

"Maa, Sasuke, you heard Konohamaru. I think I have a full day ahead of me. The medic nin says you'll probably be feeling weak the whole day so I suggest you just relax here. I'm sure you know there are four ANBU following you around, so if you need anything just let them know. I'll get someone to send you your meals."

Sasuke turned around, blinking away the slight tears in his eyes, and stared dully at the wall in front of him. "Thank you, dobe," he said almost voicelessly. Naruto grinned his famous goofy grin. "Maa, nothing to thank me for. That's what friends are for."

"After I deserted you and Konoha, tried to kill you twice, or three times if you count last night, and am probably getting you into trouble by having you baby-sit me, you still call me your friend?"

Naruto scratched the back of his neck again and walked to the door. "I've never not considered you as my nakama, all these years."

Sasuke cursed his emotionally-fragile state as he bit back tears. He watched as Naruto left the room, and let the tears of shame fall down his face. Nakama? He definitely did not deserve a friend like that dobe.

* * *

Darkness had fallen over Konoha, but Naruto had not realized it. He was in the private library of the Hokage; a musty, windowless room. A few scrolls were scattered on the floor around him as he sat on a cushion, with a lamp-stand for company. The light flickered as he concentrated on the scroll in his hand, trying to decipher the crabby brushstrokes. 

The figure crouched on the top of a high shelf deep in the shadows in a corner of the room watched as Naruto continued reading and scratching his head absentmindedly every once in a while. Without a sound, the figure drew out his equipment and began his jutsu with scarcely detectable chakra levels. He watched his target all the while, noting with satisfaction that Naruto kept reading and scratching without any movements or disturbance in his chakra level to indicate that he had realized the other's presence. The figure drew two snakes on a scroll, and performed some hand seals. The snakes on the scroll came to life and made their way noiselessly towards Naruto. The figure allowed himself a small smile as he watched his snakes almost reach their target—

"Yare yare. Having fun, aren't we?" Naruto whispered sarcastically as he pressed the flat of his kunai against the figure's neck. The figure smiled when he noted the ink splats where his ink-snakes had been, and two shuriken embedded in the floor where their heads should have been.

"Maa, everyone needs to have some fun once in a while, or so I read in a book," the figure replied. He hadn't so much as blinked before Naruto was on the cushion on the floor again, looking for all the world as if he hadn't left.

Sai hopped lightly off the shelf and walked towards Naruto, who gave a yawn and stretched his arms upwards. "When did you get back?" asked Naruto as his spine creaked and popped. "Just a few minutes ago," Sai replied. Naruto laughed. "And you came to see me straight away? Aww, I'm touched."

Sai smirked. "You can think that if it makes you feel better. You'll need that good feeling after we strip you of your cash again."

Naruto groaned. "Tonight? I forgot."

"Again," Sai added helpfully, easily dodging a half-hearted punch.

"You go ahead, I'll clear up here and get Sa—" Naruto broke off suddenly with his hand over his mouth. Sai looked at him quizzically.

"Oh, nothing. I'll get the sake. You go ahead," Naruto said rolling up the scrolls he had been studying. Sai nodded, then asked, "Are you preparing for an exam? I thought all those were over."

Naruto rolled up another scroll and shoved it into an empty space in the nearest shelf. The librarian would scold him for it, but hey, she needs something to do, right? "Nah, just brushing up on some things," he answered vaguely and as nonchalantly as he could. Sai merely nodded again and said, "I'm going to have a word with your foxes first. Ja." as he poofed off.

Within seconds, he could hear Sai's voice loudly reprimanding the fox-masked ANBU duo who had waited outside. He winced a little at Sai's choice of adjectives, and at the whacking sounds he heard. He shook his head resignedly, knowing he would have to cut down the duo, who would be tied to the ceiling in such a way that they wouldn't be able to escape. The fox-masked ANBU had been chosen at Sai and Yamato's recommendation, and it was understandable that Sai would be furious that they hadn't notice that Sai had crept in without them being aware, even if Sai was much more senior in terms of ANBU membership than they were. Sai would then leave them in a humiliating position, usually tied up. Being the sadist that he is, he once even stripped them to their boxers before tying them up and leaving, intending to leave them there for everyone to see the next morning. But each time, Naruto, being the softie that he is, would rescue them from their predicament after their tormentor left.

Naruto scratched the back of his head again as a rather mischievous grin crossed his face. He went to the innermost left corner of the library and pulled out a dusty drawer that looked like it hadn't been touched in years, but of course he knew otherwise. Just the other day as he was looking up something in the other corner of the library he noticed Tsunade creep in, look stealthily around, deposit something into the drawer and leave without a sound. Naruto wasn't a genius but even an idiot could figure out what Tsunade tried to hide there. Naruto grinned a foxy grin as he reached in and pulled out a couple of sake bottles.

'Thanks for your contribution, Tsunade-no-baachan,' he thought happily. Now, to cut down his guards and round up that teme, and he could be on his way. Sai was right, he did need some fun after all that paperwork, and he was feeling lucky tonight.

* * *

"… yeah, and so it became a sort of tradition where as soon as all of us can get together we'd have a game or two," Naruto was explaining to Sasuke as they walked down the path towards the apartment that Sakura, Sai and Naruto shared. Their six ANBU escorts (two of them feeling extreme gratitude towards Naruto) were trailing not far behind, out of sight in the trees. Sasuke had wondered a few times why Naruto had two ANBU trailing him all the time, but wasn't about to ask. 

"Hn."

"I see you've learned a lot of new words while you were away, eh, teme?" Naruto said sarcastically, looking at his friend. Sasuke showed no reaction.

Naruto said "Hmph!" and pursued another thread of thought. "So, teme," he said in a sly tone, "when are you going to start achieving the second part of you ambition?"

Sasuke merely blinked at him. "Hn?"

Naruto put his hands in his pockets. "Remember, when we met Kakashi-sensei for the first time at the rooftop garden? You said your dream – no, your ambition – was to kill a certain man, and the resurrection of your clan. Sakura said hers was… well, she didn't say it, but I think we all understood well enough," he said, grinning. "Now that you've killed off Itachi, when are you going to start reviving your clan? Those things take time, you kno—oww!"

Sasuke put his hand back in his pocket after whacking the back of Naruto's head. He reflected how the mention of Itachi's name no longer caused the extreme, seething anger he used to feel prior to last night. Naruto prodded him in the ribs.

"What?" he asked irritably, although he wasn't too irritated. Force of habit.

"Part two. Commences when…?"

"I've still got time," Sasuke said, looking expressionlessly at Naruto. "I'm sure I will be able to resurrect my clan, but you won't be able to achieve your dream, dobe."

Instead of the irritated reaction he expected, Naruto merely folded his arms behind his head and stared intently at Sasuke for a while before looking to the sky. "What's with you and that 'I'm such a cool bastard I can't be bothered to have expressions' look, huh? You got a kunai stuck up your ass or something?" He paused for a moment, then continued with a self-satisfied expression, "And what makes you think I haven't achieved my dream?"

Sasuke looked faintly amused. "At least I've achieved half my ambition. You? Hokage? Bah. I'd be Hokage before you ever could."

Naruto flared up, but Sasuke thought he detected a fleeting expression of hurt in Naruto's eyes. It was gone before he could be sure. "I could beat you anytime, teme!" he shouted, like he used to when they were genin.

"With your capabilities you'd bite the dust and never be Hokage."

Naruto stopped short and pushed Sasuke's shoulder. "Oh yeah? I can kick your ass, teme!"

Sasuke pushed Naruto's shoulder and smirked at him. "Oh yeah?" he said, mimicking Naruto. "Then who saved you in Wave Country? And who saved you a while back in prison?"

Naruto took a step back and went into an aggressive stance, bringing his balled fists up, ready to fight. "I didn't need your help! Nobody asked you to get in the way! I can kick your ass anytime!"

"Bah." Sasuke folded his arms. "I could kick your ass just using plain old taijutsu."

Naruto flared up and shouted. "Bring it on, then, teme!" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto and lunged at him. Naruto avoided swiftly and put out a fist to whack Sasuke as he passed but found himself batting thin air as he realized Sasuke was already on the other side of him. He stooped down to avoid a roundhouse kick and kicked out at Sasuke's feet, causing Sasuke to fall to the ground. With a yell, he threw himself onto Sasuke and the two grappled for some time, both landing sound punches in each other's faces and stomachs before Sasuke pushed Naruto off. Naruto lost his balance and rolled over a couple of times. Sasuke took the opportunity and gave Naruto a power-packed punch in the face, grinning slightly as his fist came into contact with the side of Naruto's head. Naruto bounced up and shook his head, trying to regain focus. Sasuke grinned again and as Naruto was about to punch him in the face, he simultaneously lashed out with a kick at Naruto's midsection, only to suddenly find himself a few feet from where he was and his arms held back. He looked up in surprise and saw two ANBU each restraining one of his arms, while another two stood beside the first two. He looked towards Naruto and saw that the two fox-masked ANBU were helping Naruto up. His jaw nearly dropped at what he heard them ask Naruto. Nearly.

"Are you alright, Hokage-sama?"

Naruto nodded his head and looked at Sasuke's 'cool bastard version' of a slack-jawed expression. Naruto grinned and seemed like he was going to burst from pride. He walked over to where Sasuke was being held.

"What are your orders concerning the Uchiha, _Hokage-sama_?" one of the ANBU asked, with emphasis on _Hokage-sama_. Sasuke was sure they had heard their earlier conversation, and was sure he could _hear_ the grin in the ANBU's voice. Naruto laughed at Sasuke's expression. "It's alright, just let him go."

"Hai, Naruto-sama." And all the ANBU, including the fox-masked two, vanished. Naruto kept laughing and laughing until he fell to the ground. Sasuke glared at him and whacked him in the head.

* * *

Ding dong! 

"Sai, get the door, will you?" Sakura said as she cleared the coffee table, grumbling about how late Naruto was.

"Alright, ha—Sakura-san," Sai said, easily dodging the scroll thrown at his head by a furious Sakura. He went to the door and opened it, but he didn't expect what he saw. In a flash, a kunai appeared in his hand and he pressed it against the visitor's throat.

"What do you want, traitor?" Sai hissed. The traitor –Sasuke- stared impassively at him. "I happen to be here by invitation," he said evenly. Sai blinked at his words, then noticed the blonde spikes behind Sasuke. Sai relaxed a little as Naruto burst out laughing.

"I see Yamato-taichou hasn't told you anything," Naruto said, pushing Sasuke in. Sai regarded Sasuke distrustfully, and Sasuke returned the look.

"Tadaima! Sakura-chan! We need your expertise!" Naruto shouted as the trio made their way to the living area after Sai closed the door and they had removed their sandals.

Sakura looked up from the coffee table she was kneeling at. Sasuke took his first good look at the kunoichi, and was rather surprised to see how much she had grown. She still had the pink hair and green eyes and same features, but she had blossomed into a beautiful flower. Sasuke smacked himself mentally; he was sounding too much like a certain bowl-haired, green-suited shinobi. He looked at her, noting that she had filled out quite well, although it wasn't enough for her to brag about. Her hair was only slightly longer than when she had hacked it off during their chuunin exam, and she had long bangs on each side of her face, rather like his own. She had an unusual mark in the middle of her forehead – it was shaped like a sakura petal and was pink in colour. Sasuke wondered whether it was a tattoo or a seal, or a scar. He glanced at her eyes, and visibly flinched at the distrust and hurt he saw there.

"What have you two been doing?" she asked, standing up and coming over to where they were. The two friends sported bruises and cuts all over their faces and arms. Naruto grinned sheepishly as he scratched his head. "Maa, Sakura-chan, we were having a discussion about a few things…"

Sakura frowned at him as she pointed to the sofa, indicating that they should sit themselves there. "Discussion?" she asked incredulously. Naruto nodded; the sheepish grin reappeared. Sai spoke up.

"Discussion, Sakura-san. When two or more parties decide to voice their opinions concerning a certain matter…oof!"

Sai landed hard in the other sofa as a vein in Sakura's temple throbbed dangerously. "I know what a discussion is, Sai."

"One finger?" whispered a shocked Sasuke. Of course, his face was as impassive as ever, but Naruto knew his friend well enough. "Oh yeah. You'd better be careful if you don't want to end up in the ICU," Naruto whispered back.

Sakura turned her attention back to the injured two, and Naruto cowered slightly. "I heard from Tsunade-shishou you have a few broken ribs as well, Naruto," she said, narrowing her eyes at him, obviously waiting for an explanation. "I didn't hear of you going on any missions or such."

Naruto puffed up his chest but it deflated from the pain. "The _Hokage_ doesn't go on missions, Sakura-chan." Sasuke snorted softly beside him, and Naruto gave him a push.

"And so…" Sakura's voice had a dangerous edge to it. Naruto gulped as he glanced at Sasuke. "Maa, Sakura-chan, err... well… last night a missing nin mistook my broad and strong chest for a punching bag, and…"

Sai and Sakura both snorted contemptuously. "You have been hanging around Kakashi too much," she said, but she read something into the glance Naruto gave Sasuke, and decided to drop the subject. She knelt in front of Sasuke and took his injured face in her left hand, and placed her right hand glowing with chakra over the discolourations and cuts. Naruto whined about not treating the Hokage first, but Sakura wasn't paying attention, instead looking straight at Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke felt a tremor go up his spine at her touch. He whacked himself mentally again; he had never felt this way around Sakura when they were team seven. Back then, she had been annoying and clingy, but now he could see that she carried herself with confidence and grace. He met her eyes and held her gaze steadily.

Finished with Sasuke, Sakura moved on to the whiny Hokage and treated the injuries he gained during the earlier fight. "Take off your shirt, _Hokage-sama_," Sakura said sarcastically. "I want to see the punching bag you were talking about." Naruto eagerly took off his flak jacket, his orange form-fitting short-sleeved t-shirt and his mesh shirt he had underneath, whose sleeves reached halfway to his wrist, leaving his black fingerless gloves and his cursed necklace glinting in the light. This was accomplished with a few grunts and grimaces at the pain in his ribcage.

Moving a glowing hand across the bandaged area, Sakura noted that the ribs were healing fine, and that the injuries had been just cracks, not breaks. She added her own chakra to boost the healing and stop the pain. Naruto gave an appreciative sigh as he felt the pain go away. "Thanks, Sakura-chan! You're the best!"

Sakura stood up and brushed her skirt. "Knowing you, those wounds would have healed by tomorrow even without my help. But if you really want to thank me, you can burn that horrible orange shirt. I thought I told you to get rid of it?" She pretended to snatch the shirt. Naruto grabbed the shirt to his chest in horror. Sakura laughed at his expression. "You're probably the Hokage with the worse fashion sense."

She turned around and headed to the kitchen. When she came back, she observed Sasuke and Sai were having a staring contest as a seemingly oblivious Naruto chattered on and on about various things.

"Let's get started, shall we?" she said, setting down the cups she had brought. Naruto gave a yelp of joy and jumped down to sit next to her, but Sakura pushed him away. She turned to Sasuke and patted the cushion Naruto had been forced to vacate. Sasuke raised an eyebrow slightly but complied. Sai sat on her other side as was his custom, and a grumpy Naruto sat across her. He understood what she was trying to do well enough, but decided to continue being grumpy anyway.

* * *

A few games later, Naruto threw down his cards in disgust. "I've been losing the whole night through!" Sai and Sasuke both smirked knowingly. Sakura caught their expressions and whacked each on the side of the head. 

"Cheaters!" she said loudly.

"There is no such thing as fair play between shinobi, Sakura-san," Sai said calmly. Naruto whacked him on the other side of his head.

"That pansy is right, dobe," Sasuke smirked. He'd put his Sharingan to good use, and had a fair pile of chips in front of him. He raked in the remaining chips and added them to his pile. Naruto tried to whack him but he evaded easily and smirked drunkenly at Naruto.

"Glad to see you boys agree on something," commented Sakura. She had been afraid the two would have a go at each other's throat before the night was over.

Naruto poured himself more sake and downed it in one go. He burped. "That teme cleaned me out." He looked at Sai. "That idiot did his part, too." He poured another round of sake for all of them, shrewdly observing that Sasuke was about to fall asleep.

Indeed, after a few more rounds, Sasuke's head dropped lower and lower until it reached the table, and snores were heard. Naruto looked over to Sakura, who placed a glowing hand over his forehead and nodded. "He's out."

Naruto laughed a little drunkenly. Sai burped. "So what's the story with that traitor?"

Sakura punched Sai without looking at him. "He's back, so I don't want to ever hear that word from you concerning him, ok?"

Sai considered for a moment, but quickly made up his mind once the area Sakura had punched began to throb. "Sure, ha—Sakura-san." His head bounced as Sakura gave him another punch, a vessel pounding when he started to say 'hag'. "How many times must I tell you, stop calling me Sakura-san. Sakura will do," she said, gritting her teeth.

Naruto decided to jump in before Sai committed more social blunders. He gave them a summary of the interrogation, and told them that Sasuke was now in his custody, although some were not happy with the lack of punishment. He explained that Sasuke had not killed anyone other than Orochimaru (Sakura gasped at this) and Itachi, although this had not been conclusively proved. Sai pointed out that if he had gone on a killing spree, news would have surely reached Konoha by now, and Naruto agreed. Sakura gave Sai a look of gratitude, to which he returned a look of confusion. Naruto laughed and continued.

"What I'm telling you now is what I'm thinking about doing. I haven't discussed it with my advisers yet, so you might hear something else by tomorrow. But I'm going to try and convince them to see things my way." Naruto scratched the back of his head before continuing. "It's nothing much, just that I want that teme to be put on a probation period of say, six months, then be reinstated as a shinobi of Konoha. And I was thinking he could join ANBU."

"ANBU, huh," Sakura commented, looking at her newly-found former team mate. "He certainly has the skills for it."

The newest member of the former Team Kakashi looked at the Hokage. "How are you going to convince them?"

* * *

:-) chapter 4 finally up! pls pls pls review. over 1500 hits but only 7 reviews... -sniffles- pls feel free to comment n critique :-)

heheh. anyways. thank u **sasunaru panda** for reviewing the previous chapter!


	6. Chapter 5

A.N.: Decided to upload 2 chapters at one go :-)

Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine. not one bit. sigh.

* * *

**The Returns** by Li

Chapter 5

Naruto groaned in frustration. He stood up and slammed his palms onto the table. "He is a valuable asset to Konoha! I don't understand why you cannot see that!"

"And I don't understand why you believe that traitor, much less set him free without any punishment," Koharu returned evenly.

They had been at it for over an hour. The Council of Konoha, i.e. Rokudaime Hokage Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga clan head Hyuuga Neji, Godaime Hokage Tsunade, villager representative Ishitaro Matsuo, and the leftover relics from Sandaime Hokage's time, Koharu and Homura, had been discussing Naruto's plan of putting Sasuke on probation. Tsunade and Neji had been quiet, watching as the relics debated every issue Naruto brought up. Tsunade smirked with relief; she was glad she didn't have to deal with those two anymore.

When Koharu mentioned traitor, Naruto stiffened and frowned. Tsunade felt the chill coming from Naruto and wiped the smirk off her face.

"Do not call the Uchiha a traitor," Naruto said icily. He stared sternly at the two elderly advisors. "As Hokage, I have declared Uchiha Sasuke to be found innocent of any actions that could have brought disastrous consequences to Konoha, and I will punish anyone who dares oppose my word." His bright blue eyes narrowed as he stared at Koharu and Homura, his fists on the table. "Including you two."

The two relics felt the killing intent Naruto was releasing. "Do not be rude, Naruto. You have only been in office for slightly over a year. And you are the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, do you think the people trust your decisions? You became Hokage only at Tsunade's insistence," Homura managed to say in an even tone, although inside he was shaking from Naruto's killing intent.

The killing intent intensified until the Council felt they were being suffocated. Koharu and Homura trembled slightly as Naruto's eyes flashed red. The silence and killing intent in the room was overpowering.

"Nevertheless, he _is_ Hokage, and he has my loyalty and trust," Neji broke the silence in his quiet yet forceful way when he was (slightly maliciously) satisfied watching the relics sweat. Tsunade smirked at her two least liked people. "Koharu, Homura, I'm sure you understand your position as _advisors_ to the Hokage. You no longer have any authority when it comes to decision making. I also trust the Hokage's decision. After all, the Uchiha has actually helped Konoha by defeating Uchiha Itachi and Orochimaru, whom Jiraiya and I could not defeat."

"Furthermore, it would be beneficial to the morale of the villagers to have the last member of the illustrious Uchiha clan among us again," Matsuo added. Tsunade looked at him with some surprise. Matsuo wasn't exactly Naruto's biggest fan, and had initially put up resistance to electing Naruto as Hokage. The man was fair, Tsunade couldn't deny that. After all, he had more or less turned around after Tsunade revealed Naruto's excellent service record. But she had never seen him oppose the relics in favour of Naruto.

Naruto's eyes were still red, but the killing intent had lessened dramatically. Koharu took a long overdue breath as she and Homura stood up. "You have our advice, Hokage-sama. I hope your decision will not be the downfall of Konoha."

The Hokage sank into his chair as the relics left the room. "Thanks for standing up for me, Neji, Tsunade-no-baachan, Matsuo-dono," Naruto said, massaging his temples. Tsunade whacked him on the back of his head. "I told you not to call me that," she growled. "But I'm glad you removed their decision-making authority. I should have done that years ago, only I used to respect them out of respect for Sarutobi-sensei." She snorted.

"I trust your decisions, Naruto-sama, but can you be absolutely sure Uchiha will not…" Neji trailed off.

Naruto looked at him. "I understand your concerns, Neji. But I believe that Sasuke is back for good. He has the power he was looking for, and Itachi is dead. I believe he has no reason to run off, and I also believe he is still loyal to Konoha." Naruto grinned as he continued, "Besides, he'd want to repopulate his clan."

Neji digested this for a few moments, then nodded. "If he wanted to, he could have destroyed Konoha on his own, or given out information to our enemies during the time he was…away." The dark brown-haired man stood up. "For your sake, I'm glad he's back, Naruto-sama." He bowed and walked towards the door. Naruto frowned. "Oi! I told you not to call me that!" Neji didn't turn around at that, although a smile did cross his face. 'You have that power to change people, Naruto. I hope for your sake it's not too late for Sasuke to change,' he thought.

Matsuo did not say anything else, but smiled when Naruto thanked him again. He left quietly, leaving Naruto and Tsunade in the room.

Naruto exhaled and stared up at the ceiling. "The people still don't trust me…" he said quietly. Tsunade looked at him, feeling sad and angry at the same time. "Well, it's not your fault they're blind to the fact that you've saved Konoha quite a few times," snapped Tsunade. Naruto let a small smile curve his lips, knowing that her irritation was not directed at him. "Thanks, Tsunade-no-baachan."

"No respect!" said Tsunade, and whacked his head again.

* * *

POOF!

Maniacal laughter rang out as an open bag of flour landed on the person who opened the door to the Hokage's office. Konohamaru clutched his sides, tears coming out from his eyes. "Hah! That's what you get for dumping your stupid paperwork on me, _Hokage_-sama!"

"Just the simple bag of flour over the door? And here I thought I had taught you better than that, Konohamaru," Naruto's voice came from _behind_ Konohamaru. The younger man whipped around with wide eyes and spluttered. Naruto was sitting on his desk with his arms folded and legs crossed, and was shaking his head with a bemused expression while making tsking noises. Konohamaru spluttered then turned back to the door, "Then who's that?"

The flour-covered person folded his arms and frowned. Konohamaru gulped. The floured man spoke in a very pissed tone. "So this is why you _insisted_ that I open the door, dobe." Konohamaru gulped again. There was only one person who would ever called his oniichan that.

Naruto was laughing at both Sasuke's predicament and Konohamaru's wide-eyed look of fear. "Heh! You've gotten dull, Sasuke-teme." Naruto hopped off his desk and plopped into the chair behind it. "Kitsu-chan!" he called in a sing-song tone. One of the fox ANBU appeared in a swirl of leaves and smoke as Konohamaru sniggered. His stiff posture indicated that 'Kitsu-chan' wasn't exactly his favourite nickname.

"Show Sasuke to my room and let him clean up." The fox ANBU bowed smartly and walked out the door, indicating to Sasuke to follow him, which Sasuke did wordlessly. As he was walking along the corridor away from the Hokage's office, he could hear Konohamaru loudly asking questions, no doubt about his return.

Ahead of him, the ANBU opened a door and indicated for Sasuke to enter. It was the room Sasuke had been staying in since the night of his return. The ANBU closed the door behind them, and pointed to another door inside, which no doubt led to the bathroom. Sasuke entered the bathroom as wordlessly as his companion. He took a quick shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, then stepped out.

The ANBU was waiting for him, and pointed at the shoji door with the orange swirl design. Sasuke made his way to the door, picking his way over the empty instant ramen cups, papers, scrolls and writing utensils that littered the floor. Opening the door, he saw that it was Naruto's closet, evident by the clothes in the style he had seen Naruto wear the night before and today. The clothes folded and arranged haphazardly. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the amount of orange shirts he saw. Sakura would get a good-sized bonfire out of those.

Glancing again into the closet, he noticed a few robes hanging on hangars. Sasuke observed that Naruto had two suits of formal Hokage robes. He touched them tentatively, recalling that the Sandaime used to wear those in every memory he had of the old man. He chuckled slightly, knowing that Naruto wouldn't wear those except when absolutely necessary, and even then he'd probably kick up a good fuss about it.

Next to the formal robes hung a long white cloak that was rather silky to the touch. It had a high collar and loose sleeved that would probably reach halfway to the elbow, and had red flames embroidered along the lower hem. Sasuke realized that this was what he remembered seeing Naruto wear over his usual mesh shirt, orange t-shirt and flak jacket this morning. He remembered the flame pattern and the kanji for 'Rokudaime Hokage' that he saw embroidered on the back of the cloak.

A slight draft reminded him that he was clad in only a towel, so he carefully rearranged the robes and cloak back into the closet space.

He looked over the shelves, wondering what he could wear. After the night he returned he had been wearing hospital-issue clothes. Then, in prison he had been forced to wear prison garb. After his release, he had gone back to what he had been wearing the night he returned. Someone had painstakingly mended the rips and rents and holes in that set of clothes. Anyway those clothes were now thoroughly floured, so he had to find something else. He definitely did not want to wear the Hokage's trademark orange.

One hand holding onto the door, he used his right hand to rummage through the mound of clothes, hoping to find something more to his taste. That was when he put his hand to the back of the closet and felt a box that had been hidden by the other clothes. Not feeling particularly curious, he idly pulled out the box, but froze at what he saw written on it: 'Sasuke's things'. He held the box in his hands as he stared at the words on the cover, which were written in a rather childish handwriting. No doubt the dobe had written it not long after he left Konoha.

He slowly lifted the cover of the box, unsure if he really wanted to see what was inside. Laying the cover on the mound of clothes, he lifted out some of his old clothes that were messily folded. Under the layer of his clothes, he found another set of clothes bearing the Uchiha symbol, but they were much larger than the first set, and would probably be a little on the loose side for him even now. His heart started beating faster as he lifted the larger clothes to his nose: the faint scent of the clothes confirmed his idea. They were his father's clothes.

Had Naruto mistakenly kept some of his father's clothes instead of his? Somehow he doubted that even a dobe could make that mistake; the difference in size was too obvious. That left the only other reason he could think of: Naruto had been certain he would be returning, and so had taken his father's clothes in preparation.

As he lifted out his father's yukata, his hand touched something hard at the base of the box. Putting his hand in again, he lifted out a picture frame, whose glass had been smashed. Sasuke stared at it with an emotionless face, but he felt as if Sakura had given one of her chakra-packed punches to his stomach. It was Team 7's picture, the one he had smashed and left face down on his table the night he left. That usuratonkachi.

* * *

The herd of Naruto kage bunshin bickering over their paperwork was driving Konohamaru crazy, even though this happened nearly every day. Naruto had come up with two simple solutions to paperwork: if it could be avoided, pass it to Konohamaru. If not, he set his kage bunshin to the job. As it happened, he had not done any paperwork yesterday, so the mounds of paper had come back to haunt him today.

Konohamaru was annoyed that his flour prank hit the wrong target so he wasn't being cooperative in doing the paperwork. The Naruto kage bunshin all hated paperwork as much as the original, and were quarrelling about why some got less paperwork than others. The real Naruto was about to scream when the door opened.

Sasuke entered and surveyed the scene calmly: about fifteen Narutos were crammed into the Hokage's office, shouting and yelling and some were almost pulling out kunai and throwing punches. Papers and scrolls formed a mountain on the main desk, and had overflowed to the floor. Konohamaru was strangling one of the kage bunshin, who was trying to tear a piece of paper into half. Sasuke's reaction? One raised eyebrow.

"Somehow this doesn't surprise me," Sasuke said. All the Narutos stopped bickering and scratched their heads, with a sheepish expression on their faces. Konohamaru just growled and folded his arms in annoyance.

"Err… heheheh…," Naruto said sheepishly. He adjusted himself in his chair behind the desk and pointed to another chair nearby. "Have a seat, Sasuke, I have to finish all this before I can go anywhere, and you can't go anywhere without me for a few days."

Sasuke smirked slightly and sat down, crossing his legs and folded his arms. The herd of Narutos resumed bickering, and halfway through Konohamaru gave a frustrated shout, punched a kage bunshin in the face and stomped out of the office, muttering angrily. Sasuke noted with idle interest that the kage bunshin didn't automatically disappear. 'Naruto must have improved on the jutsu,' he thought.

Somehow, all the paperwork had been finished about an hour after noon, and a chuunin knocked on the door to deliver two bentos and collect the mission assignments. Naruto's face broke into a wide smile at the sight of the bentos, and his kage bunshin dumped their papers and scrolls to the chuunin, who staggered, trying to prevent the mountain of papers from falling.

"Yosh! Finally!" he said excitedly. Sasuke rolled his eyes; this was the Rokudaime Hokage, eh? Naruto beckoned to Sasuke, who came and sat in front of the table. Naruto dismissed his kage bunshin, thrust a bento at him, separated his chopsticks and said loudly, "Itadakimasu!" Sasuke mirrored his actions and words (with much less enthusiasm, of course), and started eating as well.

As they were about to finish their meal, a black object whizzed into the office through the open window, narrowly missing the back of Naruto's head even though he had swerved to avoid it. Sasuke raised an eyebrow again as Naruto cursed loudly. The black object landed splat on the closed office door, and as the black ink trailed down the door words were formed.

'_Hey dickless_ (the message said) _we're waiting, and the hag and Ms. Beautiful have started planning your funeral._'

Sasuke looked at Naruto, who had resumed cursing. "That idiot Sai! I told his to stop delivering messages this way! The ink from last time took a heck of a long time to wash off!" he shouted.

"Dickless?" Sasuke asked, smirking as he pointed his chopsticks at the ink words on the door. Naruto took a better look at his door.

"Oh crap! I totally forgot! Shitshitshit! They're going to kill me!" he ranted, then hurriedly stuffed the remainder of his meal into his mouth. Sasuke assumed he had to go wherever it was that Naruto was going, so he ate quickly but much less sloppily than the Hokage.

Naruto wiped his mouth and closed the bento. "We train together one day every week, and I forgot it was today! Sakura and Ino are going to kill me," he said as he stood up. Sasuke closed his bento calmly, then looked up at Naruto. 'Oh no,' he thought.

Naruto's eyes glinted mischievously, and he grinned an evil grin. "I have an idea," he said. Sasuke knew he was in trouble.

* * *

:-) pls pls pls review!

i've actually already finished chapters 6-8... but i think i still wanna let 'em ferment for a while. not too confident about them...


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